Relaxation and transitions

Every challenging exercise should be followed by a period of relaxation and observation of the stressed body part(s). This serves as training of bodily awareness as well as allowing the necessary time to transport fresh blood to the stretched and squeezed muscles in order to provide the necessary oxygen and nutrition.

As the transition from lying down to a sitting posture can put a lot of stress on the lower back, a few pos­si­bil­i­ties of how to do this in a gentle way are given below as well.

1. Relaxation while lying on the back –
corpse posture (Savasana in Sanskrit)

Lie on your back, legs straight, feet a little apart and relaxed to the sides. Arms by the sides of the
body, a little apart, palms facing towards the body or towards the ceiling. Neck comfortable without
tension (Picture 1a).

In case of back problems, make sure the lower back is in contact with the floor, bend the knees and rest
the soles of the feet next to the buttocks on the floor (Picture 1b).

Make a cushion with the hands (one on top of the other) in front of the chest and rest the head on the
hands, looking in the direction of the fingertips of the top hand. Legs straight, feet a little apart
(Picture 2a).

Crocodile posture: Place right hand on the left shoulder and left hand on the right shoulder. Head is
resting on the forearms where they cross each other. Legs straight, feet shoulder width apart (Picture
2b).Return to Diagonal arm
and leg lifting

3. Transition from lying down on your back
to a sitting posture

Bring the straight left arm on the floor behind the head, bend the right knee and rest the sole of the
right foot next to the buttocks on the floor (Picture 3a). Roll over to the left side, bring the
right hand in front of the chest on the floor and push up to a sitting posture (Picture 3b). (Or
right arm behind your head, left knee bend and roll over to the right side).

Place the hands next to your armpits on the floor, come up on your fingertips and push up to a sitting
posture (Picture 4a/b).